Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has opened a new Extended Intensive Care Service (EICS) department at the Al-Jomhouri University Hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In the presence of the Minister of Public Health and Population, the Amanat Al-Asimah Governor, and the hospital’s director, the operation of the new EICS department was the last step of the project to support health care for refugees in Sanaa.
During the opening ceremony, UNHCR communication director Donia Aslam Khan expressed her happiness for the new department, one of the largest in Sanaa. She showed pride of this joint achievement made by UNHC and QRCS, wishing that this partnership would go farther ahead.
Dr Wafaa al-Shaibani, programme manager at QRCS’ mission in Yemen, said the new department was of great benefit for the refugees and host community. This support, she added, will increase the hospital’s capacity, reducing the need to go to the costly private hospitals.
UNHCR health officer Dr Mohamed Asaad commended QRCS’ role in completing this work amid exceptional conditions, saying “We are proud of the contributions made by everyone who had their share in this.”
“The EICS department will serve the internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees in Yemen. I would like to thank MOH and the Amanat Al-Asimah. QRCS has done a great job in the success of this department, which is the largest in the country. We will keep working together with QRCS,” he said.
Following the ceremony, QRCS and UNHCR held a consultative meeting to discuss further bilateral co-operation on projects that meet the needs of both the refugees and local community.
The health sector of Yemen is struggling, with the increasing shortages of medical supplies. QRCS had already supported the Al-Jomhouri University Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) with 28 fully equipped medical beds.
According to the hospital’s statistics centre, the new EICS department is expected to receive an average of 280 cases per month, or 3,360 per year.
With this opening, QRCS’ refugee health sector project is concluded, benefiting up to 45,000 persons at a total cost of QR 2,113,103 funded by UNHCR. It involved life-saving surgeries, provision of anesthetic devices and vital signs monitors, and Covid-19 and viral detection kits.
Under the project, 45 diverse medical equipment items were delivered to the Al-Thawra General Hospital, the Al-Jmhouri Hospital, and the National Centre of Public Health. These included 36 syringe pumps, six DC shock devices, and three vein viewers.
In addition to medical equipment, the beneficiaries received a wide range of health services, mainly free medications through two health centres, which offer primary health care, mother and child care, screening, vaccination, health education, and referral to public and private hospitals.